


We wrote a prelude to our own fairy tale

by miraculousghostspider



Category: Danny Phantom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Danny goes to New York, First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Ghost Powers Danny Fenton, Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker, Title is from Hot Air Balloon by Owl City, cliche first meeting, insulting art museums, or school trips, the author knows nothing about art museums, they're both smol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24058945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousghostspider/pseuds/miraculousghostspider
Summary: Going to New York was part of the plan.  Meeting Peter Parker wasn't, but it was the good kind of unplanned.The supervillain was the bad kind.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Peter Parker, Danny Fenton/Peter Parker
Comments: 28
Kudos: 334





	We wrote a prelude to our own fairy tale

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Ghost of Heroes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915615) by [Enigmaris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigmaris/pseuds/Enigmaris), [ScarletNightFury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletNightFury/pseuds/ScarletNightFury). 



Danny tried not to yawn as the tour guide explained the significance of the painting they had stopped at. He had been interested at first, of course, he may not have loved history, but he didn't _hate_ it. But after more than 20 nearly identical (to him, at least, he was sure a professional wouldn't feel the same way) paintings, he wanted to scream.

His parents and Jazz looked utterly captivated as they learned of this artist's rise to fame (not that it was any different from the others) and Danny found himself inching further and further away from the small group. At thirteen years of age, he was perfectly capable of looking around a museum on his own. Plus, the new cell phone he had received for his birthday two months prior meant that his parents would be able to contact him easily.

He glanced back to make sure no one had noticed him leave, yelping when he slammed into someone. The other person let out an _'eep'_ and Danny grabbed his wrist before he could fall.

"Sorry," he whispered, embarrassed. It was a teenager about his age, scrawny (not that he was much better) with glasses that framed his brown eyes and slightly curly brown hair.

"Me too," other guy said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Danny shushed him, looking back frantically.

Other guy looked at the finger he'd raised to his lips in confusion. "Dude, lots of people are talking, I don't think we're gonna get in trouble."

"I'm trying to sneak away from my parents," he admitted, stepping further away from them.

"Oh, neat." Danny raised an eyebrow and began walking, pleased when the other guy immediately matched his pace.

"You're not at all concerned about a teenager sneaking away from his family? I'm Danny, by the way."

"Peter," he responded with a smile, adjusting his glasses and making Danny itch to do the same with his own. (He normally didn't even wear the things, his prescription wasn't _that_ bad. But he wanted to see New York in perfect clarity.) "And I'm supposed to be on a school trip right now."

Danny snorted, quickly covering it with his hand. "Your school year isn't over yet?"Peter shook his head. "We didn't start the year until early September though."

"We started halfway through August," Danny said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "So you're from New York then?" They slipped between a large group and paused at an abstract piece of art.

"Yeah, I live in Queens. Where are you from?"

"Illinois."

They fell silent for a moment, looking up at the painting. Until Danny leaned over and whispered "Do _you_ know what the hell it's supposed to be?" and Peter snorted so loud a

middle aged woman looked over at them in concern.

"Have you been here long?" Peter asked as they left the exhibit.

Danny shook his head, wandering over to a different section of the museum in curiosity. "We just arrived in the city last night."

Peter gasped in delight. "There's this ice cream place a few blocks away that you _have_ to try."

Danny grinned devilishly. "How about right now? I have some cash on me."

Peter bit his lip, looking excited yet indecisive. He checked the time on his phone and nodded.

"Okay, our trip's supposed to last all day and it's only ten. Let's do it."

"Are you sure the museum'll let us back in?"

"Dude, the museum's free," Peter said. He _tsk_ ed in disappointment. "Typical choice for a school field trip."

They left nervously, despite the fact that there was no one who seemed inclined to stop them, pausing outside the front doors.

"We can either go around or cut through a back alley," Peter said nonchalantly. Danny gave him a weird look.

"How many times have you _been_ here?"

Peter shrugged. "My uncle used to take me here every month for 'bonding time'. Now that I'm older we tend to switch it up a bit."

Danny smiled. "Aw, that's sweet. Let's cut through the alley, live life dangerously."

Peter rolled his eyes with a smile, leading Danny through the rush of people and onto a side street that left them alone.

 _"Hello darkness my old friend,"_ Danny sang, voice echoing oddly in the space. Peter laughed, the sound bouncing off the walls.

They chatted as they meandered down the street, Danny pausing only for a moment to tell Jazz he was doing "stuff" when she texted him to ask where he was.

"It's technically not a lie," he informed Peter. "and she'll just assume I'm being my angsty teenage self."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Angsty?"

Danny nodded in faux seriousness. "I haven't hit the angst stage yet, but it's bound to happen soon. I'm pretty sure it's a rite of passage for teenagers."

They quieted as a heaviness seemed to enter the alley, a shiver making it's way down Danny's spine and probably Peter's, judging by the way he shivered.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but Peter held up a finger to shush him.

"It's silent," he said, and Danny blanched. He hadn't even noticed. The sounds of car horns honking, sirens blaring, people talking, the sounds Danny had already begun to associate with New York were all gone.

There was a loud thud from a warehouse next to them and both boys jumped, Danny almost choking on his heart as it leapt up into his throat.  
They waited a moment for the noise to stop, sharing a glance and creeping forward together. The door to the warehouse didn't creak nearly as loud as one would expect, considering how old and decrepit it looked. Even so, Danny winced at the small noise it made when he opened it, slipping into the dim room with Peter right behind him.

Boxes and boxes towered up around the entrance they had come through, some stacks stretching higher than was probably legal and others only a few crates high.  
Danny stepped over to the nearest one, which wasn't sealed. Opening it up, his eyes widened at the array of weapons inside. Guns and blades and _was that nunchucks?_ He picked up a gun hesitantly, the smooth metal fitting his hand surprisingly well.

"This can't be legal," Peter breathed in his ear, grabbing a dagger for himself and running a finger down the edge, hissing in pain when it grazed his finger enough for a line of blood to appear.

"What are you doing here?" a harsh voice asked behind them. They spun around in unison, staring at the obviously evil man in a black trench coat behind them.

Despite every instinct in him screaming for him to run and hide, Danny forced himself to relax, shooting an easy grin at Peter.

"Told you he was here." He gave the man an amused look. "Tucker here thought we went to the wrong warehouse. As if! I told him, 'Tuck, there's no way _two_ high class supervillains would happen to make base in the same neighborhood. Sorry we're running late. There were a few civilians we needed to, ah, _take care of_ if you know what I mean." He winked at the guy who was looking more and more confused by the second.

"Who are you?" he asked harshly, hand reaching toward his waistband and what Danny assumed was a weapon.

Danny raised an eyebrow, acting confused. "Uh, we're your new employees. You _did_ call us in, right?"

Peter narrowed his eyes at the man. "I don't know, Ned, he looks a lot more high profile than our last employer. Are you sure this guy _needs_ any help?"

The man spluttered in confusion. "You're just _kids!"_

Danny laughed loudly, imitating his father, and punched Peter in the arm. "Ha! I _told_ you it looked realistic!"  
Peter frowned, rolling his eyes. “Forgive me for not believing you could make us look like twelve year old kids. And don’t you lie to me and say it’s just talent, I know I saw you take that alien tech.” The man looked suitably intrigued at the mention of alien tech, doubts fading away. His greed was stronger than his suspicion, and Danny wanted to high five Peter for his cleverness.

"Anyway, sir," Danny said. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name..."

“Johnson,” he said stiffly. “You could come up with a name to terrify the Avengers, couldn’t you, _Ned?"_ Danny almost laughed as the guy used “his” name as a fear tactic. His

fear stopped him though.

Instead, he shrugged offhandedly. “Probably. I don’t know what you can do yet, though. They basically just tell us where to go and you fill us in on the details. _Anyway,_ we just came to check in with you, make sure we had the right place, which we _did."_ He shot Peter what he hoped was a smug look. "But we still need to go grab our _materials._ We have some items I think you'll be interested in."

Johnson grinned, probably thinking he was tricking them. “Be quick. I wouldn’t want to have to teach you a lesson.”

“Of course not, sir,” Peter said. “We’ll be back soon.”

They left leisurely, neither looking back. As soon as they were far enough away, any composure they had vanished, Danny basically collapsing as the adrenaline kicked in and all the strength left his legs.

 _"Holy shit,"_ Peter gasped, grabbing an inhaler out of his pocket. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“My parents are gonna _kill_ me," Danny gasped, laughing from sheer relief.

"You totally saved my ass back there!”

Danny shook his head sharply, making himself dizzy. “I’m pretty sure your alien tech comment got him hooked. Nice thinking.”

“No,” Peter said, and they sprawled out opposite each other on the dirty New York pavement, their heads beside one another. “Using fake names, _that_ was nice thinking."

“We have to tell the Avengers,” Danny said. “Or the cops, at least.”

Peter groaned. “I don’t want to get in trouble, but I’m pretty sure that dude doesn’t care about anyone else, and we _can't_ let him kill anyone."

Danny got to his feet, holding out a hand for Peter to take. Peter was taller than him. Rude.

"Shall we go face the flames?" he asked, only half joking.

"Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire."

Danny grinned as they walked back, bumping into Peter with his shoulder. “I’d make a joke about you fearing the wrath of your guardian more than an _actual supervillian_ but honestly? _Same."_

“I’ll have you know that I met Iron Man once, and he saved my life from supervillains,” Peter sniffed haughtily.

“Oh, sorry. I had no idea I was dealing with a supervillain expert,” Danny teased.

"I forgive you."

They shared a look, impossible to describe but both _knowing_ what it meant. It was the kind of look you could only share after a death defying experience like they’d just had. And maybe they could have not bumped into each other and never even realized what they were missing out on. Maybe they could have passed by each other and been no worse off.

But maybe, _just maybe,_ fate was determined to tie them up like rubber bands. (And maybe they were okay with that.)

**Author's Note:**

> I might write a second, post-canon, chapter but at this point I'm not sure. I hope you enjoyed! (The title comes from the song Hot Air Balloon by Owl City)


End file.
